UNIVERSITY OF MALTA

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
B.ENG. (HONS.) COURSE
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING STREAM
YEAR II SEMESTER I
JANUARY 2005 SESSION OF EXAMINATIONS
28th January 2005

MEC 2006 ENGINEERING MECHANICS

KINEMATICS

0915 - 1145 hours

This paper contains FIVE questions. You are to attempt FOUR.

1.

A particle of mass 10 kg is projected vertically upwards with an initial velocity of

100 m/s in a medium which exerts a resistance to the motion equal to 10v N where v is
the velocity of the particle in m/s.
Determine the maximum height reached by the particle and the time taken to attain it.
Note

xd x
= x a ln (a = x )
+ x

(25 marks)

2.

Figure 1 shows part of a mechanism in which a plate ABC of quadrant shape and
pivoted at C is moved by a linear actuator against the action of a torsion spring. The
mass of the moving part of the actuator is 2 kg and the quadrant, which may be assumed
uniform has a mass of 10 kg and radius 0.2 m. The spring has a stiffness of 250 Nm/rad
and in the position shown exerts an anticlockwise torque of 100 Nm on the quadrant.
The mechanism is contained in a horizontal plane.
If a constant force of 1000 N is applied to the ram of the actuator, determine the angular
velocity of the quadrant after 10 of rotation clockwise from the position shown.
A

0.18 m
B
10
C

Figure 1
(25 marks)
Page 1 of 3

3.

In the system shown in Figure 2 the mass of the compound disc A is 90 kg and its
radius of gyration is 0.4 m. The pulley B may be assumed light and its pivot is
frictionless. The block C has a mass of 45 kg.
If disc A rolls without slip, determine the velocity of the block C 2 seconds after the
system is released from rest.
(25 marks)
B

R
r
A

r = 0.3 m
R = 0.6 m

Figure 2

4.

Figure 3 shows a test rig for inspecting steel balls. The balls are ejected at A with a
horizontal velocity of 1 m/s and after falling through 0.1 m rebound from a hard steel
surface over the guard BC. If balls having a coefficient of restitution of less than 0.8
are to be rejected, calculate the value of h and the corresponding distance s.
(25 marks)

A
1 m/s
B
H = 0.1 m
h
s

Figure 3

Page 2 of 3

5.

In the mechanism shown in Figure 4, the driving crank CD rotates about D and when in
the position shown it has an angular velocity of 25 rad/s and an angular acceleration of
500 rad/s2 both clockwise. CD = 90 mm and AD = 120 mm.
For this position determine
(a) the velocity and acceleration of sliding between the block C and the rod AB

and

(b) the angular acceleration of the link AB.

(25 marks)
B
C

25 rad/s
500 rad/s2
60

Figure 4

Page 3 of 3